Essay Questions

Describe the characteristics that made Paul a good doctor.

Paul was a very gifted and compassionate doctor. His personal traits reinforced his ability to do well with patients. These characteristics include the following: he paid personal attention to patients, he was hardworking, he was well read, he was humane and compassionate towards patients, and he had the ability to connect with his patients.

These characteristics enabled him to learn the ways to deal with patients. They also gave him the ability to help the patients deal with their emotional and physical pain.

Explain the role of Paul's mother in building a good home and a good society.

Paul's mother is introduced to the reader in the first chapters of the novel. She is a phenomenal woman whose concern for her children and society enable her build a good home and improve society.

She raised her children well by encouraging them to read from a young age. She also set a good example to her children for she was very committed to her family. As a parent at the school where her children transferred to, she motivated the students at the school to see beyond the horizon of Kingman and dream to go beyond the town.

Show how the narrator's internal conflicts shaped him.

The narrator, Paul Kalanithi has several internal conflicts during his life. These conflicts shape his as a doctor and a human being.

Paul was conflicted on what to do after he finished his undergraduate studies. He pondered on whether to be a doctor or not. Previously he was studying Literature and he realized that it was not his calling. Paul eventually decided to be a doctor.

During his residency, as he was being shaped as a neurosurgeon, Paul wondered whether to be a doctor who treated his patients on rote or be one who engaged and connected with his patients. He settled on being a doctor who develops a personal relationship with his patients treating their physical illness and also helping them handle the emotional distress that came with an illness.